Don't Waste It
by Sarah1281
Summary: Sooner or later, every character gets their shot at a second chance. This is Peter Pettigrew's. He may not deserve it but he certainly wasn't happy with how things ended up. The only question was how to get a better future without having to possess the kind of bravery that the lack of had sent him running to Voldemort in the first place...
1. Chapter 1

Don't Waste It

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: I'm always fascinated by what the unusual suspects would do if they had a second chance.

Severus Snape was the kind of man who spent a great deal of time wishing that he could change the past.

Peter Pettigrew (lately called by his Hogwarts appellation of Wormtail by everyone he came into contact with and wasn't _that_ odd. Given that he was single-handedly responsible for bringing the Dark Lord back, you'd think he'd get a little more respect) wasn't sure what made him think that, precisely, but think it he did. Snape didn't go around talking about how much he wanted to change the past and he only actually even _mentioned _it if he was trying to bother Peter. He spoke a great deal of Sirius in the days since his death (and Peter had been upset by this for all that he had set Sirius up to rot in Azkaban) and now his fixation seemed to be on Remus.

Snape spoke of the past often but sadism seemed to be all that those reminiscences were about. Maybe it was because he didn't know Snape all that well for their long acquaintance but he didn't think the other man was particularly unhappy, either. Not happy, exactly, but just…Snape.

And yet somehow Peter just got the feeling that he did secretly obsess over it. But what would a man like Severus Snape want to do over? Becoming a double agent? Joining the Death Eaters? Ending his friendship with Lily? Having a friendship with Lily in the first place? Attracting the attention of James and Sirius? Peter rather hoped it was that one. Snape was in a position to make his life very miserable for quite some time and he took full advantage of it. Peter could only imagine what he was like as a teacher. It was nice, sometimes, to relive the memories of him making Snape's life miserable. Not that he ever did much, though more than Remus, but he was still there so it still sort of counted.

Whatever it was, there was little doubt that Snape had it planned down to the last meticulous detail with such dedication that it would undoubtedly go off without a hitch. Except possibly getting Lily to fancy him, if that was what he was after become come on. This was _Snape_. Girls didn't go for blokes like him.

Peter, on the other hand, hadn't ever given the question much thought. What was the point? He firmly believed that, as far as he had fallen, he had made the only real decision available to him at every turn. Sure, other people might have had a different view of that. Sirius, in particular, had been very opinionated. _"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"_ But then, that was Sirius for you. He never was very tolerant of others.

And yes, that might have been an option for other people. Peter very charitably never doubted that it was what Sirius himself would have done as he never was one to ask of others what he was not willing to do himself. But Peter? That just wasn't him. He might have been a Gryffindor but he had come to believe that it took a special kind of courage to admit that there were some things you just were not capable of. And anyway, school houses were a million miles away.

He had also, trapped as a rat for twelve years, gotten very good at seeing the bright side of any situation. Yes, he had been ignominiously strangled by his own silver hand in the Malfoy's prison _but _he hadn't murdered the child of two of his closest friends. You might even say that he died protecting Harry. Not on purpose but that wasn't really the point.

And clearly _someone _up there either liked him or – more probably – took pity on him and was offering him a second chance at life.

"You need only tell me where you want to go," the mysterious figure of light told him.

Did he want another chance at life? Well, yes, actually even if it only ended up exactly the same way. He didn't really like being dead. It wasn't so bad in and of itself (or so far as he could tell in the ten minutes or so since he'd died) but it was rather disconcerting. He was sure that he would get used to it in time but why bother if he didn't have to?

And maybe things could actually change.

He didn't want to go _too _far back. He thought he would die of boredom if he had to relive his childhood or his old school days. And he didn't know if he could really pretend to be so much younger than he actually was without attracting all sorts of unwanted attention or mistakenly being labeled a genius or not ending up friends with the others. There were benefits to avoiding _that _situation, certainly, but he still remembered his Hogwarts years fondly.

He certainly didn't want to deal with the war or being forced to turn traitor or living as a rat. And the last thing he wanted to do, though he maintained there had been nothing else he really _could _do, was to revive the Dark Lord again.

So that really only left one option.

"How about a week or so before I became a double agent?"

There. That sounded so much better than 'traitor.'

Peter waited for an answer. And when he blinked, he got it.

He had to blink a few more times to make sure that he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.

He, James, Sirius, Remus, and a heavily pregnant Lily were sitting around the kitchen at what he believed to be James and Lily's house. It had been _so long_ though.

Everyone looked much better than he had seen them last. Of course, since James and Lily had been dead at the time, Sirius had spent over a decade in Azkaban, and Remus had been virtually alone and still a werewolf during that same time, that was hardly a surprise. And Remus and Sirius were looking much less inclined to kill him, too. Things just kept looking up, didn't they?

"Sirius, I don't think that you understand how this 'godfather' thing works," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "You don't just get to tell people that you're going to be the godfather of your child. They have to actually _ask _you."

"Why?" Sirius asked blankly. "I mean, everyone knows it's going to be me."

"It's called being polite, Sirius," Remus told him.

"Yes," Lily agreed, nodding. "Some of us like to believe that we have something called 'a choice in the matter.' Let me cling to this delusion for just a little longer."

"I am all for letting people cling to delusions, Lily," Sirius replied. "Just ask Prongs. I didn't burst his bubble about you when after six years of failure any sane man would have given it up and look where we are now!"

"I was not delusional!" James protested. "I just knew what I wanted and went after it. Her. You know what I mean."

"Sometimes the delusion becomes so strong it sucks other people into it," Remus said sagely.

James groaned. "Not you, too!"

Remus just shrugged. "Six years, mate."

"And I will not have people thinking I'm rude," Sirius sniffed. "As it happens, James already asked me."

Lily turned suddenly narrowed eyes onto her husband. "I know he didn't because we agreed that we would discuss things before making important decisions."

"To be fair, the choice of a godfather is only actually important if the both of us _die_," James tried to defend himself.

"I know I haven't actually done anything particularly dangerous since I got pregnant-" Lily started to say.

James' eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. " 'Haven't done anything'-" he repeated before breaking off and shaking his head. "What do you call that time you nearly took Malfoy's head off?"

"He was the one who was nearly beheaded and not me," Lily answered primly. "Besides, I went out for ice cream and not on a raid. But that's not the point. This _is _a war and we can't stay completely out of it, even when Harry's here. We're fighting _for _him, after all. And even if we tried to stay out of it, we could still get killed. Godparents are a much bigger deal nowadays than they used to be."

"You know, Lily, I'm almost getting the feeling that you don't _want_ me raising your child," Sirius said, pouting.

"Is it so bad to think that I would rather raise him myself than entrust him to literally any other person on this planet?" Lily asked rhetorically, neatly side-stepping Sirius' concern.

"I'm not saying that I'm half-hoping that something does happen so that I may accept your challenge and prove what a great godfather I can be," Sirius assured them.

They all stared at him.

"Nobody was actually thinking that you were," Remus said finally. "Although now I'm starting to wonder."

Sirius ignored that. "But I want you to know that I would prove you so wrong that it would be embarrassing."

"We'd be dead, though," James pointed out. "So I don't think embarrassment would be high on our priority list. And that would be a good thing anyway. The you being a great father figure part, not the bit about us being dead."

"Embarrassment is a big deal for everybody," Sirius insisted. "Except possibly for Moony. I don't think he's even capable of getting embarrassed."

"If you stopped and thought before you did things then you'd find that you, too, can lower the amount of time you spend embarrassed," Remus told him.

"Oh, I don't spend any time embarrassed," Sirius said, surprised. "I thought you knew that. Bu I recognize that others are less sublime than me and so was trying to be tactful. And…now I ruined it. Way to go, Moony."

"Yes, that was rather clumsy of me, wasn't it?" Remus agreed wryly.

James, meanwhile, was trying not to laugh. "Sublime?"

Sirius shrugged. "If the ten-galleon word fits…"

"Don't think I'm going to get distracted by this, James Potter," Lily said sternly. "You can't just go around asking people to be our son's godfather without telling me!"

"Clearly he _can_," Remus pointed out. "It was just really not a good idea, was it?"

"Hey," James said, holding his hands out in front of him defensively. "I don't even remember this!"

"So you named Sirius our godfather while you were _pissed_?" Lily asked incredulously. "In some ways, that explains quite a lot."

"Hey!" Sirius objected.

"But on the other, you have no idea how much it terrifies me," Lily continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "What if you had started asking random strangers at the pub?"

"Well of course I wouldn't expect any of us to be held to that," James replied. "But I wasn't actually pissed at the time. Well, I'm pretty sure…" He looked to Sirius for confirmation.

Sirius laughed. "You were as sober as a twelve-year-old. Which you were."

Now Lily was confused. "How can you possibly have given away our child's godfathership to Sirius when you were twelve? Were you guys experimenting with de-aging potions?"

"No, it's just…Well, you explain it," James ordered. "I don't even remember it and I'm not entirely sure that it even happened."

Sirius almost looked insulted. "Of course it happened! Would I ever lie to you?"

"Yes," Remus and James said simultaneously.

"Now that's just hurtful," Sirius huffed. He glanced Peter's way. "At least one of you still believes in me!"

If he had really been twenty then he would have chimed in his agreement with Remus and James but for now all he wanted to do was watch them. He was out of practice with their quick-paced banter anyways.

"What happened?" Lily prompted.

"James had done something extremely stupid – I can't tell you what because even back then he made me swear not to tell you – and so McGonagall and Filch were after him," Sirius explained. "He really desperately needed an alibi and I was the only one who could have given him one."

"I'm sure I could have found somebody else," James argued.

"What do you know? You don't even remember this," Sirius pointed out. "And you had better hope that you couldn't because otherwise what you did was stunningly irresponsible."

"I'm willing to bet that it was anyway," Remus spoke up.

"Now, I was happy to help Prongs out but I _was _a Marauder and so I had to ask for something in return. Since he was completely at my mercy, I knew that I could ask for anything short of him giving up on Lily and he'd give it to me," Sirius reminisced fondly.

"I do so love hearing about your years of obsession," Lily quipped.

"And the first thing that popped into my head was Rumpelstiltskin," Sirius said, a bit sheepishly.

"You asked for my firstborn?" Lily cried out. "And James agreed?"

James hid his face behind a pillow.

Sirius winced slightly at that. "Well, his, really. At that point I rather doubted that it would be yours."

"Thanks a lot," James muttered, glaring at him.

"Oh, _that's_ the part you have a problem with?" Lily asked, shaking her head.

"And I didn't actually _want _a baby – my brother was enough for me, thanks – and so I just asked for godfather rights. James didn't actually seem all that concerned about it," Sirius concluded.

"Twelve!" James repeated. "And I didn't think he'd actually try to hold me to it."

"I wasn't going to," Sirius told him. "But then you went and lived the dream. Good for you, mate."

James couldn't help grinning at that.

"Why not just wait until he asked you?" Remus wondered.

"I knew he'd have to clear it with Lily and, well, you saw her reaction," Sirius answered.

"It's just…you don't exactly scream 'I'm ready for children'," Lily said delicately.

"I don't like children, no, but this wouldn't be a _child_," Sirius insisted.

"Not really convincing me…" Lily said quietly.

"It would be a Pronglet. Prongslet?" Sirius wondered.

"They both sound equally ridiculous," Remus declared.

Sirius scowled. "Well, I wasn't asking you."

"You asked the room at large and I was in the room," Remus countered.

"So you see, Lily, I'm kind of in a bind here. And it's not like you have any male friends that you're closer to than Sirius. You can have the godmother," James offered.

"How magnanimous," Lily said sarcastically. "We're asking Alice."

"Brilliant idea," James said cheerfully.

"I'm just saying that if we had to pick one of your friends – and I'll agree that I'm closer to them than any of my other male friends – then I think we should have picked Remus," Lily declared.

Remus paled. "I…couldn't handle a child, Lily. I really couldn't. I'm too dangerous."

"Only on the full moon and you're not around then," Lily argued.

"And neither is Sirius," James added.

"That's what a babysitter is for," Sirius retorted.

"Exactly," Lily said, looking pointedly at Remus. "I'd say that babysitter could even be Sirius but he would obviously be busy, too."

"I love how I'm good enough to watch your child when you want free childcare but not forever," Sirius huffed.

"Me, too," Lily agreed. "It's very convenient."

"I wouldn't have the sorts of financial resources to deal with him," Remus continued. "You know of my difficulty finding work."

"Merlin, Moony, you don't think we'd leave you on your own with that, do you?" James burst out. "We'd already help you out if you'd just take the bloody money. And with our child's welfare to consider, you'd have to accept the help."

"Well none of this matters because I'm the godfather whether Lily likes it or not," Sirius said quickly when Remus appeared to be weakening.

"It's not like I think you would be an utter failure," Lily said earnestly. "In fact, you're about halfway down my list of people who should be given custody of our child in the event that James and I cannot be the ones to raise him."

"Although with godfather status you've obviously been promoted," James announced.

Lily sighed. "Obviously."

"How many people do you have on your list?" Remus asked, interested.

"As many people as I can think of," Lily said grimly.

"I know that you're concerned, Lily, and that virtually everyone on that list will also be in danger but…don't you think that's overdoing it a little?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

Lily shook her head. "I'm taking no chances. If there's no one available to take a child, they always go to the family. There is no way in hell my baby is ending up with my sister. I was actually trying to figure out if I should list Severus as a possible guardian."

The reaction was intense and immediate.

"You _what_?"

"Bloody hell!"

"Not my godson!"

"Lily," James said slowly once he had taken a few deep breaths, looking at her like she was a crazy person. "You remember that he's a Death Eater, right? And he called you that horrible word? And he hates me? And he's, well, _Snape_?"

"I am aware of all of those things," Lily answered him calmly. "I'm not saying he'd be high up on the list. He'd probably be the very last person, actually. But if it literally came down to Severus or Petunia I really do think he'd be better off with Severus."

"No offense, Lily, but in that case your sister must be a huge bitch," Sirius said bluntly.

Lily didn't look at all offended. "She doesn't like magic."

"Lots of people don't-" Remus started to say.

Lily cut him off. "I think it's pathological."

James glanced over at him. "Hey, Wormtail, what's got you so quiet?"

Peter closed his eyes briefly at the name. But unlike everyone else over the years, this hadn't been meant to taunt. "Oh, nothing. I've just decided that I'm done with the war."

Sirius choked. "D-done? You can't be _done _with this war."

Of course Sirius would say that. _"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!" _Well, if he wanted to spend the next few years (and possibly the rest of his life. Peter didn't think his departure would change things all that much but you never knew) trying to save the world then that was his choice. Sirius never could respect others' differences but Peter could.

"Sure I can," Peter said steadily.

"I'm not sure that I quite understand," Lily told him.

"The D-" Peter quickly cut himself off. He'd grown used to calling him the Dark Lord but only Death Eaters did that. "You-Know-Who only ever attacks in Britain. Maybe if he wins he'll move on to other countries but he hasn't won yet."

"So you're just going to leave the country?" James asked, surprised.

Peter nodded, pleased. He wondered why it hadn't occurred to him the first time around. Probably he'd been too scared to start all over somewhere else and too busy trying to be Sirius' type of brave to openly run before he'd been caught up in that web of lies and betrayal. Well, enough of that and even the worst country had to be better than twelve years as a rat.

"I don't really speak any other language but I'm sure I'll manage," he told them. "I've heard that the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands speak good English. And if not, there's always the United States, Canada, or Australia."

"That probably is more effective than just going into hiding," Remus mused. "I mean, getting out of the country might be difficult but if you can manage that then you're set."

Peter nodded. "I'll manage. If nothing else, I'm sure Dumbledore could think of a way."

And then, because they were his friends and he hadn't wanted them to die and Harry was right that he did owe him something…

Maybe this would keep the war from ending but it wasn't his job to end it over the corpses of his friends and he wouldn't even be there anyway so what did it matter?

"Maybe you and Lily should think about leaving, too," he suggested. "If not right now then if it gets too dangerous here. You know, with a new baby and everything…"

Review Please!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: Okay, so I decided to expand it just a little.

Peter was nibbling delicately at his brownie when Sirius popped up right in front of him.

Peter jumped. "Sirius! You can't just do things like that!"

Sirius glanced around carelessly. "It would appear that nobody's noticed. Not surprising, really. Everyone looks _extremely _high."

"High?" Peter repeated blankly.

Sirius' attention turned to the baked good in Peter's hand. "What are you eating?"

"A brownie," Peter said as it if were obvious. And it was, really.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I figured that. But I'll bet you anything that this is a special brownie and while normally I'd be all for you loosening up, you don't even know what getting high means and so this is probably not intentional. See, I can be a good friend sometimes."

The added inflection meant that those words weren't really directed Peter's way and so he ignored them. "I should hope it's a _special _brownie. I paid eight guilder for it. And it does taste weird but I'm not sure that I'd characterize the taste as 'good.'"

"Just give me that," Sirius said, snatching the brownie out of Peter's hand and popping it into his own mouth.

"Hey!" Peter protested.

"I'll pay you back," Sirius promised blithely. Peter knew better than to actually expect him to, though. Why someone with as much money as Sirius was constantly 'borrowing' things from those with significantly less never failed to astound him.

Peter crossed his arms. "What are you even doing here, Sirius?"

Sirius adopted a wounded expression. Peter had forgotten just how good Sirius was at that. It probably had something to do with his Animagus form.

"What?" he asked innocently. "Can't I just stop by to visit one of my best friends in his new home?"

"You could," Peter agreed lightly. "But that's not why you're here."

Maybe it wasn't _fair _to be so annoyed with Sirius when Peter was doing him the _favor_ of not being involved with the war and then playing a part in getting him sent to Azkaban (only a part, of course, because how was he supposed to know that the Aurors wouldn't give him a trial or even check his wand before throwing him in Azkaban for life?) since Sirius had no way of knowing that. Still, Peter did find his hackles rising.

Sirius sighed. "You can't just run away and hide in Amsterdam, Peter. I mean, if you're going to hide then you probably couldn't have picked a more fun spot but you just can't."

"I don't see why not," Peter said crossly. "I'm not hurting anybody, Sirius, and you really don't need me."

"We need everyone we can get!" Sirius argued. "And even if we didn't, that's not the point."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Oh don't let's make this about a principle!"

"But that's what this whole thing is about!" Sirius burst out. "It _is _a matter of principle and we all have to stand up for what we believe in."

"I don't believe in much of anything, Sirius," Peter admitted ruefully. "Least of all myself."

"So you're fine with Voldemort just murdering everybody in sight?" Sirius couldn't believe it. "You don't care if there's a mass muggle genocide and all of our friends are fighting and dying to stop it?"

"Of course I _care_, Sirius," Peter snapped. "I'm just…this isn't me."

"What isn't?" Sirius challenged. "A decent bloke?"

Peter shrugged. Sirius hadn't thought he was for years before his death. "If that's what you want to think."

"Wormtail, that's _not _what I want to think," Sirius said earnestly. "I'm not asking for any miracles here. I know that you're not as…well, you know. I don't want you to get killed."

Yes, Peter did know. And that was exactly why Sirius shouldn't be asking this of him. But Sirius couldn't conceive of a world where people felt differently from him and it always was his undoing.

"I won't get killed here," Peter replied.

"You're letting wizarding Britain down, Peter," Sirius said disappointedly, sensing that the argument was lost.

Peter thought of a graveyard and a pub in Albania.

"No," he said. "I don't believe that I am."

* * *

"Explain to me how you can have cheerfully helped them move in and yet you're still trying to convince me to go back?" Peter asked, his left eye twitching.

"Well, James and Lily have a baby now," Sirius said reasonably. "And Voldemort personally wants to murder their son. It's only reasonable to get out while they can. And if they were going into hiding anyway, why not beyond his reach here in Holland?"

"Right," Peter said, nodding. "So all I need to do is find a girl and get her pregnant and you'll leave me to it, too."

"Actually, he said that you'd need to have your child personally targeted by Voldemort first," James reminded him.

"I'll get right on that," Peter said dryly.

"Giant wooden shoes!" Sirius exclaimed suddenly as he spotted a pair of tourist clogs. He grabbed Remus' arm. "Come on, Moony! Sit in them with me."

"But…I…" Remus protested half-heartedly as he was dragged off.

"It's not that I don't appreciate getting away from Voldemort," Lily began slowly. "It's just…there are a _lot _of curtains here. And you can't even just avoid one area because they appear to be _everywhere_."

"Over four hundred," James informed her. He coughed. "Or, er, so I've heard. From Sirius. Under duress."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course it was. And it's not that I'm a prude, although to be honest just walking by and suddenly seeing a half-naked woman doesn't appeal to me, but I don't want Harry to see this kind of thing."

"Lily, we've been over this. He's barely a year old," James said patiently.

"And he won't always be a year old," Lily retorted. "Who knows how long Voldemort is going to live? Maybe he'll be around forever."

Peter shuddered. "I'll be forced to take drastic measures then."

James laughed. "Don't let Sirius here you say that. He'll tie you up and take you back to England tonight."

"And we don't even know if being exposed to those images could have some sort of effect on Harry's development right now," Lily added. "Plus it really makes me feel like a bad mum."

"Lily," James said, taking the hand that wasn't busy holding Harry. "You fled the country to keep your son safe. You're a terrific mum."

Lily smiled at that. "I'd like to think so. But that's no excuse to let him see such things at his age."

"There's always the countryside," Peter suggested. "I haven't been out there very often myself but from what I understand there is a lot more windmills. And cheese!"

"Cheese is good," James said seriously.

* * *

Peter waited anxiously on Halloween even though he knew that things had changed and the Dark Lord wasn't just going to be presented the location of the Potters. He also stayed away from Lily and James just in case. But there were always the Longbottoms.

Halloween came and Halloween went and nothing happened. Some Muggles were killed but the Dark Lord had not been defeated.

Since both prophecy children remained hidden it was really no surprise, he supposed, but it was disappointing. He still didn't want Lily and James dead but a world with the Dark Lord in it, even a world where the Dark Lord didn't even know his name, made him nervous.

And so, halfway through December, Peter snuck into a Muggle business after hours to use a typewriter and then anonymously sent off a letter with a nondescript postal owl.

_Dumbledore, _

_I tire of this war that's raging. I have seen the Dark Lord for what he is and I know that he must be stopped for he is a madman who will surely kill us all. I wish to be free of him and I cannot be so while he is still alive. Circumstances prevent me from attending to this personally but I do hear things and some of them may prove useful to you. _

_As you may be aware by now, the Dark Lord is not currently mortal. If you kill him he will be weakened and no longer a threat for years and years, just enough time to lull the rest of the wizarding world into a false sense of security, but then he will be reborn from the ashes. I do not know what means he employs to keep himself alive but there are certain objects that I believe hold significance to him and that may be of some use. _

_There is something in a cave. It's not very much to go on, I'm afraid, but the Black house elf may be able to tell you more. _

_There is something in Hogwarts. That's almost as helpful as the previous one, I'm afraid, but it's the best I've got and you're the headmaster so I'm sure you'll think of something. _

_There is a diary in the possession of Lucius Malfoy. The Dark Lord's wrath should he discover that such an item was destroyed would be truly terrible to behold. The diary contains the means to unleash Slytherin's Basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets (the location in the bathroom Myrtle died in) so be cautious. _

_There is a cup in the possession of Bellatrix Lestrange. _

_There is a ring in a shack. Putting it on would prove lethal. _

_Maybe all of these items are important and maybe none of them are. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws trying to find a way to bring him down. But if this can help, if even just a little, then it will be worth it. _

_But just in case, you might want to consider secretly tampering with the bones of Tom Riddle Sr. It may come in handy in case this does not work as we wish it to. _

He didn't sign it.

He didn't think that it could be traced back to him, either, especially since he hadn't been around and was so clearly uninterested in the war. He had also written the letter from the perspective of someone who had clearly been in the Dark Lord's service (and he only called him You-Know-Who out loud) while as far as anyone – even the Dark Lord – knew Peter had never been among his followers.

It was perfect. Or at least it would be if any of this was worth anything.

He knew of the diary, of course, because he had been there to witness Lucius' fall from grace and the terrible wrath that the Dark Lord had unleashed upon him. The Dark Lord had tried to take Lucius' son Draco as payment but after Dumbledore had died he had forgiven that debt.

He knew of the cup as Bellatrix had not been able to stop bragging about being entrusted with it. Oh, she didn't say anything to most (it wouldn't be much of a hiding place then) but she could not resist telling Narcissa and he had just happened to be around at the time.

He knew of the cave because he could remember, way back before James and Lily had died, the Dark Lord ordering Regulus' House Elf to accompany him and when the House Elf had returned it had been babbling about a cave before Regulus had spirited him away.

He knew of the ring because the Dark Lord himself had mentioned it once in the year before his rebirth. He had mentioned it when discussing their own inglorious abode and alluded to another object of value hidden in the humblest of places.

He knew of the object at Hogwarts because on the night that Dumbledore had died, the Dark Lord had not been able to resist gloating that he had hidden something right under Dumbledore's nose and the old man had gone to his grave never realizing it.

And maybe those objects of import weren't at all related to this strange immortality. But maybe they were and they were really the only clues he had. He would just have to wait and see.

* * *

Peter was torn from slumber by the uncomfortable feeling that he was drowning. Blinking and fumbling for his light, he soon realized that no, actually Sirius had just shot water at him out of his wand.

"What was that for?" Peter demanded. "And what time is it?"

"Who cares?" Sirius asked cheerfully.

"The bloke you just woke up!" Peter cried out. He heard what sounded suspiciously like a baby crying. His eyes narrowed. "Sirius…"

"Yes, yes, James and Lily are here," Sirius said, nodding. "I would have come earlier but I just heard about it myself since Remus just transformed back. He would have come himself if he had been feeling up to it but, trust me, he's very excited."

"What happened?" Peter growled.

Sirius winked at him and then pranced downstairs.

Grumbling, Peter pulled on his robe before stumbling downstairs after him.

"Sirius, you know I love you but Lily and I talked it over and we agreed that if this is not, on a scale of one to ten, at least a fifteen then I'm going to have to hex you," James greeted him.

"Fifteen?" Sirius asked, laughing. "Try twenty. Or a hundred. Or a million!"

"It could just be me but I think that there's a sizable difference between those numbers," Lily remarked.

"It's all of them!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You bloody drama queen," Peter accused. "Just tell us."

"Voldemort is dead," Sirius said cheerfully.

There was a stunned silence.

Peter was the first to recover, having already been through something like this once before. "Are you sure? Dead dead? As in, there's a body and everything?" He hoped that this was the case although even if it wasn't his friends weren't dead and he wasn't going to have to spend twelve years as a rat so it was still a tolerable state of affairs.

"I don't know what other kind of dead there could be," Sirius told him. "And yes, there is. Rita Skeeter somehow found out about it shortly after it happened and took a picture of some of the Aurors kicking the body. I wish I could have been there…"

"I'm surprised you weren't," Peter told him. "That sounds like your kind of thing."

Looking miserable, Sirius nodded. "Oi, you two are being awfully quiet over there."

Peter looked over to see the little family embracing tightly. Lily had tears in her eyes and James' hands were shaking.

"I just…I can't believe he's really gone," James breathed. "I always knew that one day he'd be gone but I never thought I'd live to see it. I can't wait to get back."

"And that monster never got anywhere near Harry," Lily said, gently kissing the top of her child's head. "Or Neville, for that matter."

That reminded him. "We should still be careful," Peter warned. "I doubt his followers – at least the _really _devoted ones who won't pretend that they were never on his side – will let it go so easily. You might still be a target."

He wouldn't, though. Not this time. He hardly noticed when he began to grin. Lily and James would probably be fine. And if they weren't it wouldn't be his fault, not at all.

Lily nodded. "Good point."

"So what happened?" James asked. "Who finally did it?"

"Dumbledore, of course," Sirius said as if anything else was inconceivable. And coming from an age where everyone expected a seventeen-year-old child to do the honors, Peter could concede that Dumbledore was a far likelier candidate.

"Really?" Lily asked, surprised. "But he never tried to kill him before."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, he always alluded to something that would make killing Voldemort complicated. I guess he got it sorted out, though."

"Thank goodness!" Peter said, putting his hand over his heart and briefly closing his eyes.

"Wish I knew what it was," James said wistfully.

Sirius snorted. "_You _wish? I'm the one with the little brother who apparently knows all about it."

"Regulus?" James looked started. "But isn't he a Death Eater?"

"Not anymore, apparently," Sirius said, shrugging. "Not that he bothered to tell me any of this."

"Now that he's not evil anymore, you really should think about taking to him," Lily suggested.

James coughed. "Now, Lily, I see no reason to reach out to people who you were once close to just because Voldemort is dead so they aren't Death Eaters anymore."

"_Severus _isn't my brother, James," Lily said pointedly.

"Right. Well, I never knew him that well but if he had anything to do with killing Voldemort then that probably makes up for the rest," James reasoned. "Besides, maybe this way he'll tell you what happened."

Sirius' eyes lit up. "If you'll excuse me, I really should see how the family is in the wake of this stunning turn of events…" He started to head for the door but paused just before reaching there and turning back to Peter. "I hope you're happy."

"Why wouldn't I be happy?" Peter asked, honestly confused.

"We won and Voldemort's dead and everything's great and you did _nothing_," Sirius complained. "You might as well not have even been there for all the help you were. Oh, right, you _weren't_. And you didn't even 'thrice defy him' first!"

Peter shrugged. Sirius would never understand and now that the war was over he really didn't need to. And he'd rather be a living 'coward' than a 'dead hero' any day.

"I can live with that."

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